The collection of birds from Mozambique at the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical of the University of Lisbon (Portugal)

A peer-reviewed open-access journal

ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

doi: 10.3897/zookeys.708. 1335 | #Z,o00Ke y S

http:/ / ZOO keys -pen soft. net Launched to accelerate biodiversity research

The collection of birds from Mozambique at the
Instituto de Investiga¢ao Cientifica Tropical
of the University of Lisbon (Portugal)

Miguel Monteiro'’, Rui Figueira!’, Martim Melo'?, Michael Stuart Lyne Mills*’,
Pedro Beja'’, Cristiane Bastos-Silveira®, Manuela Ramos®, Diana Rodrigues’,

Isabel Queirdés Neves*’, Susana Consciéncia®, Luis Reino!”?

| CIBIO/InBIO-Centro de Investigagao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vai-

rao, Portugal 2 CEABN/InBio, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, Instituto Superior de
Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal 3 FitzPatrick Institute of
African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701X, South Africa 4 P Leventis Ornithological
Research Institute, University of Jos, PO Box 13404, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria 5 Museu Nacional de Historia

Natural e da Ciéncia, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua da Escola Politécnica 56, 1250-102 Lisboa, Portugal
6 MARE-FCUL, DOP/UA¢ - Departamento Oceanografia e Pescas, Univ. Agores, Rua Prof. Dr. Frederico

Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal 1 CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Universidade
de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal 8 Estrada de Mem Martins n 251 1°Dto, 2725-391 Mem Martins,

Sintra, Portugal 9 CIBIO/InBIO-Centro de Investigacdo em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade
de Evora, 7004-516 Evora, Portugal

Corresponding author: Rui Figueira (ruifigueira@isa.ulisboa.pt)

Academic editor: G. Sangster | Received 21 April 2017 | Accepted 12 September 2017 | Published 16 October 2017
Attp://zoobank. org/F9BD6824-976D-4969-8323-49E5402DA406

Citation: Monteiro M, Figueira R, Melo M, Mills MSL, Beja P, Bastos-Silveira C, Ramos M, Rodrigues D, Neves IQ,
Consciéncia S, Reino L (2017) The collection of birds from Mozambique at the Instituto de Investigag4o Cientifica
Tropical of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). ZooKeys 708: 139-152. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.708.13351

Resource citation: Instituto de Investigagao Cientifica Tropical of the University of Lisbon (2017). ICT Bird Collection
of Mozambique. 1585 records, Contributed by Pinto AR, Quadros R, Fajardo M, Ferreira G, Esquivel M, Carreira
J, Frade E, published online, http://maerua.iict.pt/ipt/resource.do?r=cz_aves_moz, released on 11 January 2017. GBIF
Key of parent collection: https://www.gbif-org/dataset/c690c2b5-8002-4d 12-83 1c-9258dd618f78, Data Paper ID: Data
Paper Dol <to be added>

Copyright Miguel Monteiro et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC
BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

140 Miguel Monteiro et al. / ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

Abstract

The Instituto de Investigacéo Cientifica Tropical of the University of Lisbon, which resulted from the
recent merger (in 2015) of the former state laboratory Instituto de Investigacéo Cientifica Tropical in the
University of Lisbon, holds an important collection of bird skins from the Portuguese-speaking African
Countries (Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tomé and Principe, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde), gathered as a
result of several scientific expeditions made during the colonial period. In this paper, the subset from Mo-
zambique is described, which was taxonomically revised and georeferenced. It contains 1585 specimens
belonging to 412 taxa, collected between 1932 and 1971, but mainly in 1948 (43% of specimens) and
1955 (30% of specimens). The collection covers all eleven provinces of the country, although areas south
of the Zambezi River are better represented than those north of the river. The provinces with the highest
number of specimens were Maputo, Sofala, and Gaza. Although it is a relatively small collection with a
patchy coverage, it adds significantly to Global Biodiversity Information Facility, with 15% of all records
available before and during the collecting period (1830-1971) being the second largest dataset for that
period for Mozambique.

Keywords
Animalia, Aves, Biodiversity databases, Chordata, museum, species occurrence data, specimen, southern

Africa

Introduction

Mozambique, located along the southeast coast of Africa, has a total land area of
801,590 km’ encompassing three major biomes: the Afrotropical Highlands biome in
the montane areas, the East African Coast biome in the lowlands, and the Zambezian
biome represented by Brachystegia woodlands (miombo) at mid elevations (Fishpool
and Evans 2001). This diversity of habitats supports a rich avifauna (Parker 1999; Min-
istry for the Coordination of Environmental Affairs 2009), with 671 species recorded,
more than 530 of which are breeding residents (BirdLife International 2015). The
country holds populations of 29 globally threatened bird species: 4 Critically Endan-
gered, 11 Endangered, and 14 Vulnerable (IUCN 2017).

Despite the fairly high number of bird species recorded, the avifauna of Mozam-
bique is still one of the least studied on the African continent (Borghesio et al. 2009),
with several parts of the territory poorly explored, especially north of the Zambezi
River (Dowsett-Lemaire 2008; Ryan and Spottiswoode 2003). The protracted Mo-
zambican Civil War (1977-1992) was the main factor resulting in this lack of knowl-
edge, as during that time very few expeditions or scientific studies were carried out
(Parker 1999). As a result, a substantial part of current knowledge is still based on
studies conducted prior to the war (Clancey 1996), represented mostly by bird skin
collections kept at scientific institutions and natural history museums around the
world (Frade 1950; Pinto 1953a, 1953b; Frade and Pinto 1954). After the war,
there has been a renewed interest, albeit still modest, in the avifauna of Mozam-
bique that has improved the knowledge of species diversity and distributions (e.g.,

The collection of birds from Mozambique... 141

Clancey 1996; Parker 1999; Spottiswoode et al 2008; Fishpool and Bayliss 2010).
These recent studies have played a fundamental role in guiding national conservation
strategies for the avifauna of Mozambique, which have targeted areas dominated by
high-priority habitats like the sensitive forests that are home to many threatened spe-
cies, the coastal zones where many migratory birds spend their non-breeding season,
and freshwater habitats that are inhabited by many waterbirds (Borghesio et al. 2009;
Moseley et al. 2012).

The present paper describes the dataset of the Mozambican bird skins held in
the collection at the Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical of the University
of Lisbon (IICT-ULisboa) in Lisbon. This institution is a specialised unit of the
University of Lisbon that resulted from the merging of almost all sections of the
Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical, a former state laboratory, in the Uni-
versity of Lisbon, in July 2015. This new unit shares the director with the National
Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Lisbon, and all the
zoological and herbarium collections of IICT are in the process of being moved to
the Museum. After the conclusion of relocation process, collections will remain
open for the scientific community. The dataset is based on a full taxonomic revi-
sion of the bird specimens and georeferenced collection locations, accessed while
in the facilities of the former IICT. This is the third in a series of studies based on
the IICT-ULisboa collection, with the datasets of Angola (Monteiro et al. 2014)
and Sao Tomé and Principe (Monteiro et al. 2016) already summarised. As with the
previous datasets, the Mozambican dataset is freely available online on the IICT
IPT provider (http://maerua.iict.pt/ipt) and on the Global Biodiversity Informa-
tion Facility (GBIF) data portal (http://www.gbif.org).

Importance of biological and natural history collections

For more than two centuries, specimens from different taxa have been kept as part of
natural history collections in both Natural History museums and herbariums world-
wide. One of the goals was to show the outstanding biological diversity, which includ-
ed very valuable and rare species, to the general public while safeguarding an interest in
scientific research (e.g., Pyke and Paul 2010). These biological museums have become
large repositories of compiled knowledge and reference material that can be used in
several different lines of research in the field of biological sciences (Winker 2004).
Currently, the information gathered on the natural collections is considered critical
to deal with some biodiversity conservation matters, which includes different topics
from ecology, taxonomy, biodiversity loss, biological invasions, agriculture, and public
health (Graham et al. 2004).

A foremost contribution of biological collections is linked to the potential of their
records being used as historical databases, since the taxonomical and distribution infor-
mation it contains can cover long periods and relatively large spatial scales (Hromada et

142 Miguel Monteiro et al. / ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

al. 2015). Moreover, when the specimens’ records are combined with environmental and
historical data, spatial patterns can be depicted and historical distributions can be com-
pared with both present and future projections (e.g., Graham et al. 2004; Lavoie 2013).
Each of the above data features is of extreme importance, especially in underdeveloped
countries where the research means are scarce and scientific studies are limited. The use
of collection records in these regions may be a cost-effective valuable resource, reducing
or even eliminating the need for fieldwork in remote areas (Ponder et al. 2001).

In terms of the relevance of the IICT-ULisboa’s bird collection, albeit limited, this is
a relevant contribution to Mozambique’s ornithology, a poorly studied territory mainly
due to the detrimental effects of both the Mozambican war of independence (1964—
1974) and its civil war (1977-1992). This collection, though relatively small, represents
the second largest set of bird records for the country available through GBIF before and
during the collecting period (1830-1971) which represents 15% of all the data for that
same time. Some of the records are the first species record for Mozambique and represent
the only preserved museum specimens in the entire GBIF’s dataset (1830-2017) (GBIE
org, 2017). This is the case of the Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius (Miller JF, 1779))
and the White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis (Burchell, 1824)). Furthermore,
some data from the least-explored provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, and Nampula,
and from many biome-restricted species, are also added to the database.

Despite the critical value of this kind of data, the information available in many
collections is still restricted as they are not easily accessible or were not even seen by spe-
cialists (Ponder et al. 2001). Therefore, it is highly recommended to facilitate the acces-
sibility to data from as many collections as possible, which would increase the number of
sources that can be reached by the scientific community (Suarez and Tsutsui 2004). One
of the best ways to increase that availability is through the Internet by the digitization of
the records on open access online platforms (Winker 2004). Another relevant issue that
requires our attention is the declining support for taxonomic and systematic research by
constituencies (e.g., Gropp 2003). This decline has already resulted in large budget cuts
in many museums throughout the world, and is putting the use of biological collections
at risk (Dalton 2003). As a result, it is vital to contribute to the preservation of biological
collections and increase the awareness for a major visibility and access to them.

General description

The II[CT-ULisboa holds a collection of 5598 African bird specimens/skins (hereafter
“the collection”), mainly from Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and
Sao Tomé and Principe. The dataset in this paper is a subset of the collection, and con-
tains all specimens from Mozambique, the largest subset for any country represented
in the collection (hereafter “the dataset”). The dataset comprises 1585 specimens from
412 taxa, 25 orders and 79 families, which were fully taxonomically revised and geo-
referenced. Specimens were collected between 1932 and 1971 from 197 different loca-
tions, although 73% of all Mozambican specimens were collected in 1948 (43%) and

The collection of birds from Mozambique... 143

1955 (30%). Most of these specimens were collected during expeditions of the Missao
Zoolégica de Mocambique, from south of the Zambezi River, largely because these are
the most accessible regions of the country. Of the many collectors, the most significant
contributions were made by Anténio da Rosa Pinto and Rui Quadros (118 specimens
each) and Mussolini Fajardo (46 specimens). All of them were members of the Museu
Alvaro de Castro (now Museu de Histéria Natural, Maputo, Mozambique) and par-
ticipants on the expeditions of the Missao Zoolégica de Mocambique.

Records of a special significance

The collection contains specimens of five of the 29 globally threatened species found
in Mozambique (Fishpool and Evans 2001). They all belong to the order Accipitri-
formes and include two vulnerable species — Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus
(Daudin, 1800)), Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius (Miller, JE 1779)) — and
three critically endangered species — Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus (Tem-
minck, 1823)), White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus Salvadori, 1865) and White-
headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis (Burchell, 1824)).

The collection holds representatives of five of the 30 biome-restricted species of the
Afrotropical Highlands biome found in Mozambique, seven of the 24 species from the
East African Coast biome, and 12 of the 26 species of the Zambezian biome (Parker
1999) (Table 1). Several species for which there are few records for the country are rep-
resented in the collection, such as Black-rumped Buttonquail (TZurnix nanus (Sundevall,
1850)), African Blue Flycatcher (Elminia longicauda (Swainson, 1838)), Groundscraper
Thrush (Turdus litsitsirupa (Smith A, 1836)) and Miombo Scrub Robin (Cercotrichas
barbata (Hartlaub and Finsch, 1870) (e.g., GBIEorg 2017). The collection also includes
some of Mozambique’s biome-restricted species of particular interest such as Anchieta’s
Sunbird (Anthreptes anchietae (Barboza du Bocage, 1878)) and Miombo Double-col-
lared Sunbird (Cinnyris manoensis Reichenow, 1907) from the Zambezian biome. Both
species have considerably restricted distributions in Southern Africa, being relatively un-
common in parts of their range (BirdLife 2016a, b) and the near threatened Neergaard’s
Sunbird (Cinnyris neergaardi Grant CHB, 1908) from the East African Coast biome.
This species is mainly restricted to Mozambique and restricted area in South Africa. Its
conservation status reflects concerns about the moderately small population, which may
be declining owing the clearance of its native forest habitats (BirdLife 2016c).

Taxonomic coverage

The dataset includes specimens from 25 orders and 79 families. Passeriformes are by far
the best-represented order (63% of the specimens), followed by Coraciiformes (5.4%)
and Charadriiformes (4.9%) (Figure 1). The Cisticolidae, Ploceidae and Nectariniidae

are the families with most records (110, 99 and 92 specimens, respectively).

144 Miguel Monteiro et al. / ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

Table |. Biome-restricted species (Parker 1999) that occur in Mozambique and are represented in the
IICT-ULisboa collection. The taxonomic nomenclature follows the International Ornithological Council

Bird List v6.1 (Gill and Donsker 2016).

Common Name Scientific Name N pore Red List Biome
(version 2017)
Racket-tailed Roller Coracias spatulatus Trimen, 1880 Least concern Zambezian
Mangrove Kingfisher | Halcyon senegaloides Smith A, 1834 Least concern oe
Dickinson's Kestrel Falco dickinsoni Sclater PL, 1864 Least concern Zambezian
Poicephalus cryptoxanthus East African
Brown-headed Parrot (Peters W. 1854) Least concern ee
Pale Batis Batis soror Reichenow, 1903 Least concern East African
Coast
: Chlorophoneus olivaceus Afrotropical
Olive Bushshrike (Shaw, 1809) Least concern Hiphlands
White-tailed Crested a Afrotropical
Fipcetchee Elminia albonotata (Sharpe, 1891) | 2 | Least concern Highisads
Stripe-cheeked Arizelocichla milanjensis 7 eh Sane ee Afrotropical
Greenbul (Shelley, 1894) Highlands
; Notopholia corrusca East African
Black-bellied Starling (Nordmann, 1635) 8 Least concern nl
: . Lamprotornis mevesii ;
Meves's Starling (Wahlberg, 1856) 3 | Least concern Zambezian
Miombo Scrub Robin Cercotrichas barbata Di Least concern Zambezian
(Hartlaub & Finsch, 1870)
Kurrichane Thrush Turdus libonyana (Smith A, 1836) | 16 | Least concern Zambezian
White-throated Cossypha humeralis ;
Reba het (Smith A, 1836) 6 Least concern Zambezian
: j Pogonocichla stellata Afrotropical
Miombo Rock Thrush | Monticola angolensis Sousa, 1888 | 16 | Least concern Zambezian
Myrmecocichla arnotti ;
Arnott's Chat (Tristram, 1869) 1 Least concern Zambezian
Anchieta's Sunbird Anthreptes anchietae 1 Least concern Zambezian
(Barboza du Bocage, 1878)
Cyanomitra veroxii East African
Grey Sunbird (Smith A, 1832) 2 | Least concern Gack
Miombo Double- Cinnyris manoensis eee eee
collared Sunbird Reichenow, 1907 Sy ahdel aT ae
: Cinnyris neergaardi East African
Neergaard's Sunbird Grant CHB, 1908 Near threatened Cishct
White-bellied Sunbird | Cinnyris talatala Smith A, 1836 Least concern Zambezian
Red-faced Cryptospiza reichenovii ideas Afrotropical
Crimsonwing (Hartlaub, 1874) Highlands
Pink-throated Hypargos margaritatus eat eaees East African
Twinspot (Strickland, 1844) Coast
Crithagra mennelli
Black-eared Seedeater (Chubb EC, 1908) Least concern Zambezian

The collection of birds from Mozambique... 145

Taxonomic ranks

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Accipitriformes, Anseriformes, Apodiformes, Bucerotiformes, Caprimulgi-
formes, Charadriiformes, Ciconiiformes, Coliiformes, Columbiformes, Coracii-
formes, Cuculiformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Gruiformes, Musophagi-
formes, Otidiformes, Passeriformes, Pelecaniformes, Piciformes, Podicipediformes,
Psittaciformes, Pterocliformes, Strigiformes, Suliformes, Trogoniformes

Family: Accipitridae, Acrocephalidae, Alaudidae, Alcedinidae, Anatidae, Anhingidae,
Apodidae, Ardeidae, Bucerotidae, Burhinidae, Campephagidae, Caprimulgidae,
Certhiidae, Charadriidae, Ciconiidae, Cisticolidae, Coliidae, Columbidae, Co-
raciidae, Corvidae, Cuculidae, Dicruridae, Emberizidae, Estrildidae, Eurylaimi-
dae, Falconidae, Fringillidae, Glareolidae, Hirundinidae, Hyliotidae, Indicatori-
dae, Jacanidae, Laniidae, Laridae, Locustellidae, Lybiidae, Macrosphenidae, Mala-
conotidae, Meropidae, Monarchidae, Motacillidae, Muscicapidae, Musophagidae,
Nectariniidae, Nicatoridae, Numididae, Oriolidae, Otididae, Paridae, Passeridae,
Pelecanidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Phasianidae, Phoeniculidae, Platysteiridae, Plocei-
dae, Podicipedidae, Psittacidae, Pteroclidae, Pycnonotidae, Rallidae, Remizidae,
Sagittariidae, Scolopacidae, Scopidae, Stenostiridae, Strigidae, Sturnidae, Sylvii-
dae, Threskiornithidae, Timaliidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, Turnicidae, Tytonidae,
Upupidae, Vangidae, Viduidae, Zosteropidae

Common names: Birds

Spatial and temporal coverage

General spatial coverage: The collection covers all eleven provinces of Mozambique,
although the distribution of the records is uneven between them (Figure 2). From few-
est to most specimens, the provinces are represented as follows: Cabo Delgado (2), Ni-
assa (5), Nampula (5), Tete (18), Zambésia (24), Inhambane (35), Manica (39), Gaza
(247), Sofala (353), and Maputo (841). The name “Maputo” refers both to Maputo
and Maputo City provinces. There are 12 specimens collected from a locality that we
were unable to geo-reference, and six specimens with no locality given.

Coordinates: Mozambique (10°S and 27°S Latitude; 30°E and 41°E Longitude)

Temporal coverage: [he temporal range of the records is between 1932 and 1971
(Figure 3). Two main peak periods are 1948 and 1955, which together represent 73%
of the collected specimens and correspond to the dates of the Missao Zooldgica de
Mogambique’s expeditions.

146 Miguel Monteiro et al. / ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

120

@ Passeriformes

110
= Coraciiformes
@ Charadriiformes
100
§ Galliformes
@ Accipitriformes
@ Columbiformes
80
@ Bucerotiformes
@ Piciformes
60 @ Anseriformes
™ Musophagiformes
0
ov
oO
2
ze)
9
a
os)

@ Coliiformes

40 Caprimulgiformes

@ Cuculiformes

22
20

15

Colidaec a [;

Alaudidae

Cloceidce == aaa rae Pe a 1
Nectarinid¢ I ©
Muscicapid2e [ies °

Malaconctidac ies =|
tiide rs
Pycnonctide i.
Accipitrid, es
Motacilide te =
Columbo ts 5
Stunde ie =
Acciinidec (2
Platysteiridce 02
Meropidae {oe hed
Hirundinidae eee] w&
hain TT 2

Nuns TT
Caacide 5:

tide i \

Musophagidae ey a
pice a

Fringlice oT 5

uid, ©

Coraciidae ———<} &

Monarchidae —: ©
Bucerotidae a a
Scolopacidae az a
Oriolidae ay a
Laniidae _— in
Cuculidae DE &

Caprimulgidae

Figure |. Total number of bird specimens from Mozambique, per family, held in the zoological collec-
tions of IICT-ULisboa (Lisbon). The legend lists the corresponding Orders, with assigned colours. Only

the categories of families having 15 or more specimens are labelled.

Methods

Method step description: During the ARCA project (2008-2010), the mammal and
bird collections of the UCT were initially catalogued with the use of the software
Specify Workbench, and later all that information was imported to Specify version 6
(Specify Software Project 2013). At that time, there were no taxonomic experts avail-
able to check the collections, and so the imported data were directly copied out from
the labels without making any corrections or taxonomic updates. In 2015-2016, the
collection was revised by the first author, following the procedures of the previous
works on the collection (Monteiro et al. 2014, Monteiro et al. 2016).

A revision of the database was made in 2015—2016 based on the IOC Bird List
v6.1 (Gill and Donsker 2014), and all the original information of each bird speci-
men (collector, date of collection, collection locality, and descriptions of bare parts)
was double-checked to avoid transcription errors. As georeferenced location informa-
tion was not available on specimen labels or associated book manuals, specimens were
georeferenced according to the guidelines of Chapman and Wieczorek (2006). The
geographical gazetteer Geolocate was primarily used to determine location coordinates
for collection localities, with further data gleaned from sources such as Google Maps,

The collection of birds from Mozambique... 147

# records
126
7-16

Me 17 - 40

We 41 - 88

ME 89 - 296

Figure 2. Distribution map of the locations of specimens’ occurrence throughout the territory of Mo-
zambique held in the zoological collections of ICT-ULisboa (Lisbon).

IICT’s botanical geodata, and a series of 1:250000 maps for Mozambique. Geographi-
cal coordinates are given in decimal degrees, based on datum WGS 84. For ten records
it was not possible to determine coordinates due to incomplete information.

Study extent description: The study covers all eleven provinces of Mozambique,
although the southern (1123 records) and central provinces (410 records) of the coun-
try are much better represented than the northern provinces (36 records). The prov-
inces of Maputo, Sofala, and Gaza are the best-represented.

Sampling description: All records in the database come from scientific visits
carried out between 1932 and 1971. The most significant contributions were made

148 Miguel Monteiro et al. / ZooKeys 708: 139-152 (2017)

700

Accipitriformes
Anseriformes
Apodiformes
Bucerotiformes
Caprimulgiformes
Charadriiformes
Ciconiiformes

600

500

Coliiformes
Columbiformes
Coraciiformes
Cuculiformes
Falconiformes

Count

Galliformes
Gruiformes
Musophagiformes
Otidiformes

Passeriformes
Pelecaniformes
Piciformes
Podicipediformes
Psittaciformes
Pterocliformes

Strigiformes
Suliformes
Trogoniformes

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980
Year

Figure 3. Temporal profile of the sampling leading to bird skin collection held at the zoological collec-
tions of IICT-ULisboa (Lisbon). Blue dots represent sampling years for each Order.

in 1948 and 1955, during expeditions of the Missao Zoolégica de Mocambique. In
1948, Fernando Frade (director of the Center of Zoology of the Junta das Missoes
Geograficas e Investigagées Coloniais) coordinated the first and major expedition of
the zoological mission with the collaboration of the Museu Doutor Alvaro de Castro
and the Centro de Investigac4o Cientifica Algodoeira that were both based on Mo-
zambique. The aim of the six-month mission (June to November) was to evaluate the
state of the country’s fauna. Two scientific teams (Brigada Entomoldégica and Brigada
do Chefe da Missao) bringing together many different specialists surveyed the Mo-

The collection of birds from Mozambique... 149

zambican territory along 12 different itineraries. In terms of ornithological results,
718 bird specimens were collected, although only 677 specimens are currently present
in the collection. All bird data was published later in 1951 in two different publica-
tions of the same institution titled “Trabalhos da Missao Zooldgica de Mocambique:
Aves coligidas na Missao Zoologica de Mogambique” (Frade 1951) and “Trabalhos
da Missao Zooldégica de Mocambique: Catalogo das aves de Mocambique” (Frade
and Bacelar 1951). In 1955, Anténio Augusto da Rosa Pinto, another member of the
Zoological Mission of Mozambique and the director of the Museum Doutor Alvaro
de Castro, did some minor expeditions through the south region of Mozambique and
Gorongosa to study the avian diversity and collect some bird specimens. The work led
to a publication on the birds of Gorongosa (Pinto 1961).

Quality control description: ‘The initial digitalized information that was di-
rectly transcribed from the specimen’s labels to Specify 6 was fully revised by Miguel
Monteiro. This included a taxonomic revision following the IOC Bird List version
6.1 (Gill and Donsker 2016). Additionally, all the collection localities were georefer-
enced using the recommended processes of Chapman and Wieczorek (2006), which
included the uncertainty determination of the coordinates when no substantial in-
formation was available.

Acknowdgements

Miguel Monteiro was supported by the Portuguese Social Security and EDP
Biodiversity Chair. Luis Reino and Martim Melo received support from the
Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science and the European Social Fund,
through the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT), under POPH
- QREN -— Tipology 4.1 (post-doc grants SFRH/BPD/93079/2013 and SFRH/
BPD/100614/2014, respectively). Luis Reino and Pedro Beja were also supported by
the project “Biodiversity, Ecology and Global Change” co-financed by North Portugal
Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 (ON.2 — O Novo Norte), under the
National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF). The Project ARCA (PTDC/BIA- QOR/71492/2006)
was funded by the FCT.

References

References cited within the metadata

BirdLife International (2015) Country profile: Mozambique. http://www. birdlife.org/data-
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